Sheathed
by Ben Roshi
Summary: Among the ages, stands a warrior, his sword will tear through peace and hope. Our heroes will battle against this foe, who has an advantage they will soon not forget. For inside Tenchi, a pressense haunts him, that will cause him to wish he was not born


so...  
out of somewhere  
maybe nowhere  
or not  
so...  
out of somewhere  
out of spirit  
out of heart  
so...  
out of somewhere  
out of rain clouds  
out of snow  
so...  
out of somewhere  
out of nowhere  
I know.  
-----------------  
On a long deserted plain, filled with nothing but dry long grass, and fields of weeds and flowers, which no mortal had shifted for many a years. But here, that tranquillity would fail, and now that would happen. For on this lonely grassy plain, from out of nowhere a figure appeared. Bathed in grey garments, his site was mysterious. He wore a long grey cloak around his body that was over a darker grey shirt and pants. He wore brown, wooden, shoes that sinked deep into the ground while he felt weightless. His cloak had a long hood that battered in the cold wind that ruffled his garments, but not this man nor his spirit. His face was stern and rough, and gave you the feeling of age as you looked either from his rough beard that covered his tough face in a blanket of wood chips, his dark eyes that seemed to pierce your very soul, or his tough wrinkles, that you couldn't see in reality, but his spirit projected them, embedding them in your watchful eyes, that could not keep your eyes, off this mysterious man.   
And most mysteriously, on his back lay a large, stone sword, which bared no mercy towards its prey. It was rough and full of cracks; yet sharp as any weapon on its ends. It was huge, as big as its wielder if not bigger. He had it clipped on to his back, by a brown, leather strap that wrinkled its way tightly against this mysterious mans body.  
And while all those things are mysterious and even frightening indeed, nothing could prepare one for the devastation his aura left. At his feet, the grass, weeds, and flowers alike, all died together with no mercy from his deadly aura. It seemed as if hades itself was this man, and it had no intention of sparing anything. But what had spurred this mighty wrath, which heaven itself had not foreseen, nobody knew, because nobody looked upon the giant, hidden man, until it was at his decision to reveal himself to the defenseless world.   
-----------------  
"Who is there?" cried Washu from the depths of her lab. In her young bright form, the darkness of the lab seemed to fade away. Someone had knocked on the closet door to summon her for some reason. And Washu responded without hesitation. For there was nothing to worry about around family, friends, and home.  
"Lunch is ready miss Washu," called back Sasami, the young princess of Jurai. A second later, from out of nowhere, Washu peeped up behind the princess ready to go. They both waltzed to the table smiling.  
"So it seems the great scientist will leave her lab after all," shouted out Ryoko as the scientist approached.   
"Yes I have my little Ryoko," replied Washu. It had been a while since she had called Ryoko that. They weren't very close, and the whole mother-daughter thing just didn't seem to exist. Besides, it agitated Ryoko to hear that.  
"Ah buzz off Washu," replied Ryoko. "Can't you see Me and Tenchi want to be alone?"  
"That is 'Tenchi and I' miss Ryoko," butted in Ayeka. She wasn't stubborn, just picky. She corrected people without thinking, never trying to offend anyone, just being the way she had been brought up.  
And so another usual day proceeded at the Masaki house. They ate their usual meal together, and went on with their daily things. Tenchi: in the fields, Sasami: with her comics, cooking, or cleaning alongside Ayeka. And, as always, Mihoshi and Kiyone had work to do in space, so they blasted off to get going. Washu returned to her lab, and Ryoko did whatever she wanted, usually sleeping or watching Tenchi. And of course, that is just how days went.  
--------------------  
In a small town in the United States, near the border between Arizona and New Mexico, the stranger appeared again. He had run here all the way from the Great Plains, but had a desire to stop for food. He was agitated that this was necessary, as he had hoped this mission wouldn't last that long. But, it seems his ship had teleported him to the wrong coordinates. And he couldn't afford the risk of going back to it more then once. He'd just have to get there by foot. But, hunger always strikes, despite your wanting for it, and so does fatigue. So, he approached a small town slyly. He didn't have any money, but then again it was a strange place to him. And he was resourceful.  
The cold wind brushed through the town. The clay buildings offered no remorse for strangers, and the greedy towns people inside, had nothing on their minds but making a living. And while they were not to blame for what happens next, perhaps a lesson can be learned from it.  
The wind trickled down, and rain began to drizzle on to the dirt, tough, clay road. The strange man felt something inside of him, and new a foe approached. And so he was right, as a group of men with guns in their hands, sneaked up behind him.  
Everything happened in a flash, one man charged forward with his gun pointed right at the stranger, and moved in to capture him. The other two followers, rushed to either side of him for support. But, right as the first man closed in for the capture, a giant rush of wind blew forth and smashed him against a wall. The banging that cracked out from the wall awoke all of the town. The sickening breaking of his neck racketed through every persons mind in the town. Well, all but two. The two followers of the now fallen man were too concentrated on their task, to recognize their fallen leaders cry. They both pulled out their guns on the man, pointing at him from each side.   
"Ok man, we don't really want to kill ya or anythin," started the second man, who stood behind the mysterious man. "Hand ova all ya mone or else I'll mess ya up with this here pistol o mine. I en't afraid to use it neithe, cause nobody gonna stop me right?" The last part was shouted out towards the closing in crowd of citizens.   
Another tickling wind blew through the silent town. And the mysterious man only grinned. A small laugh bursted out of his hidden mouth as his cloak's hood shifted around his face.   
"Did ya hear my friend over their stupid?" shouted out the third man. "You won't live ta see tommora if ya don't hand over ya money!" He demanded this all, with a hint of fear in his voice. Still, neither man took notice of their fallen comrade.   
Then, out of nowhere, the mysterious figure's hand moved up for his sword. Both gunman took one step backwards, as fear draped them, then they took another step forward as they considered the odds. After all, all he had was a big wooden stick, and they had freshly loaded guns at their disposal, they had the advantage.  
But then that thought faded. The fallen man suddenly cried out to his friends, "get out of here morons while you still can!" But, deep down, he knew they wouldn't budge. And his cry, only made things worse. As he spoke his strained words, both gunmen turned towards their fallen ally in disbelief, leaving them very open. And out of nowhere, the mysterious man moved. He moved so fast, nobody could see anything but his outline disappear. And suddenly, he was above one of the gunman, swords swinging brutally hard, like a golf club.   
The man he hit, must of flown 50 yards before he finally broke his back on the rough clay house. Enraged at his friends defeat, the second man fired his pistol. But he was too late. There was no way he could hit his speed and the mysterious man was soon behind him. And with one more might swing, the man was crushed against another building, dead.  
The town was in awe by this spectacle. Three bandits, all crushed and probably dead! Was this man a hero, was he even a man? Or was he a demon. But, one brave, no foolish man considered him a hero. He stepped forward and extended his hand to the stranger.  
"Thank you so much for freeing our town from those bandits, they wer..." but he couldn't finish his sentence. None of the town folks really knew what happened to him, except for one thing. There he was standing there smiling, and then, a second later, he grabbed his throat in agony. He was choking on something, but what? He slowly fell to the ground, and laid there to die. The towns people were enraged. How dare he do this to them? Four people dead, sure 3 were bandits, but that mattered not.   
One person must have been particularly enraged, as he fired his pistol at the man. The whole world seemed to slow down for that one bullet. It slowly moved through through the town and towards the cloaked stranger, but it never got that far. His hand moved out quickly, and its aura surrounded the bullet. And as if it was demon possessed, it shrunk up, and fell to the ground. The cloaked man only grinned. These people lives were over. He took out his large sword, and walked towards the frightened crowd. And then slaughtered them all.  
-----------------------  
The sun began to set on the Masaki house, as Tenchi continued his training with his grandfather. But something was strange about the exercise today. Katsuhito, for no reason, had stopped suddenly.   
"Today Tenchi, we will end our practice differently today," grinned the wise old man. He walked up to his shrine and walked inside leaving Tenchi wondering. He then returned with a huge wooden sword in his hand. "My dreams have told me, you will need to learn how to fight this, finished Katsuhito. And so they continued the fight. Tenchi struggled with the new weapon smashing at him, but he also was a quick learner. He began to adapt to this fighting style, and began to exploit its weaknesses. Katsuhito only prayed this would be enough.  
-----------------  
Back at home, Ayeka and Sasami had just finished up with the chores. Ryoko appeared behind them as Sasami moved to making supper. "So you finally come to help hah pirate?" Asked Ayeka jokingly.   
"I thought you knew me better," replied Ryoko.  
"Hmph," Ayeka sighed as she turned her back on Ryoko.  
"I have much better things to do anyways," Ryoko replied, tongue stuck out.  
"Like what?" Ayeka inquired. She moved in to tease her, but Ryoko disappeared suddenly, without a thought. Ayeka dismissed any thoughts as to where she went, and moved back to helping Sasami.  
------------------  
"Oh Tenchi?" Ryoko asked as she approached him retuning from his usual chores. "What are you up to?"  
"Nothing really Ryoko," Tenchi replied.  
"Oh really..." Ryoko trailed off. And next thing you know, she was clinging to him. Tenchi turned around stubbornly and placed her on the ground. Ryoko, in shock at his stern reaction, just sat there. "Tenchi..." Ryoko trailed off.  
"Ryoko, I'm busy right now..." Tenchi started. But before he could finish, she was gone.  
-----------------  
"What was that look upon his face?" Ryoko tried to steal out of herself. "So stern, almost angry. And yet... it was none of that. He seemed focused... on something... but what?"  
Ryoko just sat there. She didn't know what to do really. So she just sat on the edge of the roof, looking at the sky, and finally drifted into a nap.  
But her dreams would not redeem her from her torment. She found herself in an empty blackness, with nothing but eternity around her. She tried to move, tried to scream, but nothing would come out. Her body didn't want to work; she couldn't feel it or anything. Was she dead? Was this death? Nothingness? just her soul floating in this eternity? Screaming again inside her head, Ryoko tried to mentally kill herself. But to no avail. She starred forward, and suddenly all her pain she had ever felt, consumed her. First she saw her young self-crying, then Kagato beating her. More images flashed by, all those terrible moments she had tried to destroy, were there again. Then, she saw Tenchi. There he was. Just starring at her, those eye, like mortar, a forsaken glare. A drizzle of earth flipped from his soul, and Ryoko drowned in it. Those bitumen eyes, so cold, they were stones. Ryoko, felt a tear drizzle down her face. Her body had returned where that tear fell, so the salty water could burn her body. Ryoko continued to cry through this suffering, as the flames of sorrow engulfed her. And Ryoko fell asleep.  
But in fact, she had awakened. Still crying from that pain and swelling with heat, her heart pounded. She felt feverish, and wanted to cool down somehow. Then, she heard the sliding door open, and Tenchi ran outside calling for her. It was then that she realized that it was nighttime. Starring at Tenchi, eyes warm again, his short hair blowing in the fall wind and mind distraught, she knew it was time. Starring at the stars, she floated slowly towards them, remembering their comfort. Her eyes then returned to the gentle boy, and she said those regretted words, softer then a whisper, a blast of air against the eternity that cages our voices against heaven and earth, and slips them down our throats, making us regret them. "Good bye, my love."  
---------------  
Somewhere off the coast of Long Beach, California, a mysterious figure starred out into the ocean. It stood mighty in front of the man, as if it clinged to its dominance over this earth. Mighty enough to sink all boats, and slay any man, one now just laughed at it. And this crystal blue water began to die around the swimmer who began his trek across its endless waves.  
-  
-  
-  
-  
-  
An Echo, a Cry, wandering among us all: Sheathed. 


End file.
